


Team Player

by supercasey



Series: Red vs. Blue Childhood [1]
Category: Red vs. Blue
Genre: Angst, Child, Child Care, Children, Comedy, Depression, Disability, For The Kids, Growing Up, Growing Up Together, Horrible Tragedies, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, Kids, Learning Disabilities, M/M, Orphans, Past Child Abuse, Past Child Neglect, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Tragedy, abandoned
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-09
Updated: 2014-01-17
Packaged: 2018-01-08 00:46:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,875
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1126384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/supercasey/pseuds/supercasey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Family AU. Rated for swearing and mentions of child abuse. Sarge really didn't want to do this, sure, he wanted to have something to remember his dead foster mother by, but really, this? When Sarge is approached during his mothers funeral, he figures its about selling her old foster project called Red & Blue Adoption Care Project. But soon, he must take over, which means adopting and raising a number of kids from horrible situations that have left them abused, angry, orphaned and still asking 'why'. Can this ex-soldier pull through with becoming a father, or is he just not ready for such a task?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Start For Simmons

**Author's Note:**

> The ages for everyone in the fic when they show up are as follows:  
> (PS, For Freelancers who's names aren't known, I'll be using their voice actors first name)
> 
> Sarge: 25  
> Butch Flowers: 23  
> Dick Simmons: 6  
> Dexter Grif: 6  
> Kaikaina Grif: 4  
> Franklin Donut: 5  
> Frank DuFresne: 5  
> Andrew Kaboom (Andy): 6  
> Lavernius Tucker: 3  
> Michael Caboose: 3  
> Leonard Church: 3  
> Allison Texas: 4  
> David Washington: 7  
> Jen Carolina: 8  
> Sean York: 8  
> Shana Dakota: 6  
> John Dakota: 6  
> Reginald Wyoming: 8  
> Matt Maine: 8  
> Samantha Connecticut: 8

It was late November when Sarge found himself in a large graveyard in Austin, Texas. He didn't want to be here, well, he did, but not with all of these people here. Now, he was surrounded by hundreds upon hundreds of people who had been assisted by his foster mother through her program Red & Blue Adoption Care Project. He had also been helped through the project as a child, after his father died at war and his mother was murdered when he was only two years old. He had never known any mother other then the one he had before, but now, she was gone, having died from cancer at an old age. As Sarge stood there, facing the grave, he heard a young, male voice address him.

"Um... Mr. Sarge is it?" a man asked from behind Sarge, he had long, blonde hair and dark brown eyes, however, he wore thick glasses that covered the eyes easily. "I'm Butch Flowers, we grew up for two years together in Mrs. Kendal's program?"

Sarge nodded, still partially trying to ignore this guy. "Yep, that's me." He said, his accent southern from having grown up here in Texas his whole life before joining the military for a short time. "What do you want, bud?"

"Well... its about the project. In Mrs. Kendal's will, she gave the project to you." Mr. Flowers explained. "I'm so happy about this! We get to be partners, I wish I had permission to hug you!"

"Permission denied." Sarge said in a low tone. "Do I look like some kinda mother to ya'h?"

Flowers backed off, a bit surprised. "Well... you kind of need to take over, Mrs. Kendal practically begged you to in her will."

Sarge sighed, staring at the ground as he cursed several times under his breath. Really, him, a mother or father to abused orphans? Either his mother had lost in the short weeks before her death, or there was a typo. Either way, Sarge knew that he couldn't turn that down, if he did, he'd be dishonoring his mothers grave. But he was still only a soldier, he had a great job and all at a diner, but still, a foster care system? It sounded completely crazy, probably because it was. But still, there was no turning this down. He had to do this, for mom.

"When do I start?" Sarge asked, scratching the back of his head.

Flowers beamed at Sarge. "After the funeral, sir. We have a young boy named Dick Simmons from Ireland being sent here, he was supposed to move in with our mother but... it seems you'll have to do, will you be moving into her old mansion today or tomorrow?"

Sarge's eyes widened, wait, he was getting the mansion as well? "Beg your pardon, a mansion!?" He questioned.

"Of course! As well as inheriting the project you also inherited our mothers wealth and home to care for the children in, after all, can't raise the kids in a small house." Flowers explained.

A large part of Sarge was dying to punch this mans head off for insulting his own household, but still, he was willing to let it slide. Can give your new partner a concussion after all. "Alright... whats the varmints story?" He finally asked after a few moments.

Flowers pulled out a folder, handing it to Sarge. "Well, it says here that his father died at war while his mother died from heart failure, for three months he's been in an abusive home, so we're moving him to America to hopefully get him away from where he was hurt. He's been assigned to you due to your own father dying at war."

Sarge nodded, flipping through the folder. The kid had orange hair, cut very short, as well as dark green eyes and thin glasses, he seemed nice enough. And besides...

How hard could raising a kid be?

...

After only a few hours, Sarge found himself at Austin airport with his new 'partner', waiting for this Simmons kid or whatever. Sarge didn't really know what to make of Flowers, the guy seemed pretty nice and classy, but really, the guy was gayer then a diamond studded rainbow. Looking down, Sarge's eyes met those of the boy he'd be adopting, who was currently hiding behind a tall man in his late twenties.

"Hello... Mr. Sarge, is it?" the man greeted, pushing Dick forward a bit. "Why don't you say hello, Dick?"

Simmons stared up at Sarge, eyes wide before he whimpered, holding to his chest what looked to be an Irish Setter stuffed animal. "Um... hello." He said quickly before hiding behind the man again.

The man sighed, ruffling Simmons orange hair softly. "I'm sorry, Mr. Sarge. He's very shy... ever since the abuse. He only left that environment three months ago, so please, be careful around him. We'll wait about two weeks before he'll be enrolled into any schools in your area, hopefully by then he'll be more open around others." He explained. "Well then, I'll be going now."

With that, the man left to go fly back to Ireland, leaving only Flowers and Sarge to watch Simmons. The poor kid was shaking as he hugged his stuffed toy to his chest, backing away from Sarge and Flowers. However, before he could make a break for it, Flowers gently grabbed the six year old's arm, holding him back from running away. "Hey there, Richard. Want some ice cream?"

Simmons seemed to brighten up at that. "Ice cream?" He repeated. "You eat ice cream in America too?"

"Yep, its really good. Come on, lets go get some." Flowers instructed, pulling Sarge along with him as he and Simmons went off to get some ice cream.

...

Well, Sarge was, more or less, silent as they ate ice cream at a small parlor down the road from the airport. This kid was really something, a prodigy in computer science yet the shyest kid he had ever met. The boy was also very polite for some reason, especially if Sarge said something. Such as when Sarge ordered his ice cream, Simmons had complimented him on choosing such a good flavor and had gotten the same kind as him. However, he was silent otherwise, only talking after Sarge did. It was puzzling, that was certain, but Sarge tried not to think on it.

After a little while, the trio left the ice cream parlor and headed to the mansion, Simmons gasped at the sight before him. "Wow!" He exclaimed, eyes wide as he adjusted his glasses. "Are we living there!?"

"Yep." Sarge answered simply.

Simmons nodded at that. "Wonderful idea, sir." He said, smiling up at Sarge.

"Why do ya'h keep doing that, soldier?" Sarge asked Simmons as he knelt down to the boys eye level. "Why do ya'h agree with everything I say?"

Simmons stared at his feet, tears forming in his eyes. "Well... you remind me of my dad... he was a soldier, he hated being disagreed with and all... can I call you dad?" He asked, eyes wide.

Flowers gave Sarge a thumbs up, as if saying 'do it' to him. "Alright, partner. You can call me your pap." Sarge agreed, ruffling the child's hair softly.

Simmons looked more happy then Sarge had ever witnessed him before. "Thank you... dad." 

Flowers smiled, eyes wide with excitement. "May I have permission to hug you, sir?" He asked the ex-sergeant.

"Permission still denied, Flowers." Sarge said, tone practically saying 'don't patronize me'.

Flowers smiled, heading into the mansion with the group. "I have a good feeling about this partnership..."

End of chapter 1

[Next chapter: Sarge, after two weeks, is assigned two siblings, Dexter and Kaikaina Grif. Can he handle Dexter's lazy attitude? Can he stand Kaikaina's colorblindness?]


	2. The Dreaded Grif Siblings

It wasn't very long before Simmons was granted a computer from Flowers, who claimed that Simmons would learn faster if he practiced exploring the internet. Sarge, being the old fashioned man he was, had disagreed, but somehow, Flowers had talked Sarge into agreeing with him and got Simmons a small laptop. As time passed, both men regularly checked their adopted child's server history, mostly only finding online games or information on computer programing. One day though, Flowers came across something rather troubling while checking Simmons history.

"Sarge!" Flowers yelled, running into the kitchen, thankfully Simmons was at school today, so he wouldn't know that Flowers was on his computer. "Come look! Come look!"

Sarge immediately entered the kitchen, raising an eyebrow at Flowers. "What in the Sam Hell is going on in here?" He drawled.

Flowers panted, holding a hand over his heart. "I-(pant)-found-(pant)-something-(pant, pant, pant)!"

Sarge sighed, shaking his head as he header Flowers trying to catch his breath. This man would never survive in the military, no sir. "Out with it, Flowers. I don't got all day."

"Sir, Simmons is talking to someone on Skype!" Flowers yelled, finally catching his breath.

"What in Texas is a Skype?" Sarge asked, placing an elbow on the counter as he downed his iced tea.

Flowers sighed. "Its an online program that allows humans of all ages to communicate through internet access." He explained.

"Beg your pardon?" Sarge said, still staring with little interest at Flowers.

"Its a program, that lets people talk to each other, from around the world." Flowers explained further.

Sarge shrugged. "Then why in all Hell did they invent the telephone?" He asked.

Flowers sighed, composing himself before he spoke again, this time with an edge in his voice: "Never mind about the program. All that matters is that Richard is talking to some boy around his age named Dexter from Hawaii. I'm not sure who he is for sure, but I'm really worried about this to be honest. I'm going to look further into it."

"Well, why'd you come in here and tell me?" Sarge asked.

Flowers turned away, the laptop under his arm. "Just thought you might be interested. Whatever, I'll take care of this... also, the program called, we got another kid coming in soon... actually two."

"Two?" Sarge repeated. "Why two?"

Flowers pulled out a file from his briefcase, the one he always seemed to carry with him. "Its says in this file that the children's names are Dexter Grif and Kaikaina Grif, siblings. The boy is only six and the girl is four. Says here that the two lost their father in a bombing accident before their mother began overdosing on drugs. Apparently, Dexter had seen his mother overdose and die, he had called the authorities. So now they're being moved from their home in... oh man."

"What?" Sarge asked, eyes widened as he read the location the kid was from. "Hawaii? Isn't that where that cattywampus boy Simmons is talking to from?"

"First of all, yes, that's where this Dexter kid is from. Secondly, what the heck is a cattywampus?" Flowers asked, staring at his southern partner with a questioning look.

Sarge raised an eyebrow at Flowers. "Son, weren't you all up and raised to south too?" He asked. "How in Hell do you not know what cattywampus means?"

"If you don't remember, I was raised for ten years in Florida." Flowers reminded Sarge. "It was after my mother died that I was taken in by Mrs. Kendal."

Sarge nodded. "So, is this soldier gonna be a heck of trouble or not?"

Flowers checked the file, frowning at the results. "Ouch. Looks like Dexter hates any adult males that try to bond with him, but Kaikaina seems to be just fine trouble wise... oh, looks like she's color blind as well."

"What?" Sarge asked.

"It means she can't see colors correctly, whats red to use would be grey to her." Flowers explained, still holding the file. "Also, it says here that Dexter has a terrible fear of bats..."

"Whelp, there are no bats around these parts." Sage assured Flowers, slamming a hard hand onto the others shoulder, making the younger man wince from the blow. "Don't you worry your sissy little head, I'll whip those soldiers into shape in no time!"

Flowers sighed, adjusting his glasses. "That's what I'm worried about." He muttered sadly.

...

It was about three days before Dexter and Kaikaina Grif were delivered to Sarge and Flowers front doorstep, now, Dexter was having a sort of face off with Simmons, one looking into the others eyes. "You're shorter then I thought you'd be." Simmons admitted as he stared down at Dexter.

Dexter had bright orange hair, much like Simmons, but his was far more curly and unkempt. He had light brown eyes as well, but didn't wear glasses, he had freckles all over his face and cheeks. Kaikaina seemed to look nothing like her brother. She had blonde hair, extremely long and done up in a pony tail, her eyes were a misty blue that clouded with more grey showing. She was small, but thankfully, toilet trained. Still, Dexter was stone quiet as he glared at Simmons, as if daring him to speak.

"You're alot more nerdy looking then I thought." He countered, staring right up at Simmons. "Got a first name, you only ever called yourself Simmons."

"Its Richard, but I prefer Dick or Simmons." Simmons explained, eyes never leaving Dexter's slightly, pudgy frame.

After a few moments, the two burst into loud laughter, causing Flowers to let out a sigh of relief from the table and Sarge to merely raise an eyebrow. For some reason, he really didn't like this Dexter kid, he had no idea why, but he just couldn't stand him. "Its great to meet you, Simmons!" Kaikaina said after the laughter died down. "Dexty talks about you ALL the time!"

"Sis, come on!" Dexter said, glaring at the girl before glaring full force at Sarge, all was quiet. "I hate you." He whispered before walking away, Sister and Simmons right behind him.

"What was that?" Flowers asked as he watched the boy leave. "Oh well, so, Sarge, what do you think of the Grif's?" He questioned.

Sarge sighed, looking away. "I have a bad feeling about this." He muttered.

...

[Next Chapter: When Sarge is assigned a special child named Michael Caboose, Simmons grows jealous and Grif decides that he still hates Sarge, trying to mess with him any chance he gets.]


	3. A Special Train Of Thought

As a month soon came to pass, Sarge found himself in a bit of a dilemma. He could handle Dexter's constant attitude towards him (sometimes), he could handle Sister's tea parties, and he could even handle Simmons clutching behavior. But no, no freaking way was he taking in THIS kid. He had, after all, heard plenty of stories about Michael J. Caboose. The kid was, more or less, a completely loose canon. He had caused every single caregiver he had ever gotten at least three to four injuries, one of them had even been driven to the hospital after Michael 'accidentally' found a gun and shot the poor man in the leg. Enough was enough, if this boy didn't get a home soon, the Foster Care system would be forced to take more drastic measures.

So that's why Sarge was now with Flowers at the Adoption Center in Austin, adopting Caboose in order to save him from getting thrown into military camp or a juvenile detention center. "I don't like this, Flowers." He muttered under his breath as said man filled out the adoption papers.

Flowers shrugged. "Come now, sir. This is just another poor, helpless child in a world of people who don't understand him. Maybe if we adopt Caboose into our home, he'll make friends with Dick, Dexter and Kaikaina? Wouldn't that be great?"

Sarge shook his head. "We already have enough kids as it is, do we really need another one, I've nearabout lost it with Grif already!"

"Trust me, sir. You'll love Caboose, I've heard so much about him! Even if he is... accident prone... he's still such a sweet kid, wouldn't hurt a fly... unless you insult his imaginary friend." Flowers explained, shivering at that last part.

"He has a what now?" Sarge asked.

"An imaginary friend, a make-believe character that a young child or even teenagers will makeup as their best friend or as a playmate, just to talk to. Caboose may only be three years old, but its... alarming how protective he is of his imaginary friend." Flowers explained.

Sarge nodded, taking it all in. "And I though Grif was coo coo." He mumbled under his breath.

"Oh! Here he comes, sir!" Flowers said, pointing to a small boy entering the main lobby, holding a woman's hand as he came in.

He was a short little guy, blonde hair, pretty thick hair to be honest. He had baby blue eyes, the kind that mothers and old ladies cooed at and thought was the cutest thing ever. The boy was wearing a purely blue T-shirt with brown shorts on.

"Hey there little guy!" Flowers greeted, getting down on one knee to be at eye level with the toddler. "Whats your name?"

"Caboose!" The boy cheered, smiling happily at the man.

The woman knelt down with Flowers, whispering in his ear: "He only likes being called Caboose... we're not sure why yet." She explained carefully. "By the way, I'm Mrs. Hums, his therapist, call me if anything goes awry before his next appointment."

"Of course... say goodbye to Mrs. Hums, Caboose." Flowers said taking the small boys hand.

Caboose smiled widely at Mrs. Hums, waving to her. "Goodbye Misses Cinnamon Buns, I will always remember your buttery goodness.... Who was that lady?!" He screamed as loud as possible, a few workers covered their ears, including Sarge.

Sarge sighed, shaking his head as he followed, only to watch as Caboose suddenly let go of Flowers and ran forward, slamming face first into the glass surrounding the door. "Caboose!" Sarge yelled as he ran forward, actual worry entering him as he knelt down to check on the boy. "What in Sam Hell were you doing? There's a door there."

caboose simply shook his head, smiling up at Sarge. "Not my fault. Someone put a wall in my way." He decided, getting right back up only to slam into the glass again. " hate non-doors." He admitted.

"Um... how about I just lead you to the car, Caboose?" Flowers suggested, offering his hand once again to Caboose.

The boy shook his head, instead grabbing Sarge's hand. "I'm following Mr. Sarge guy there!" He announced. "Sheila likes him."

"Sheila?" Sarge repeated, staring down at Caboose. "You mean your imagine thing?"

Caboose's brow furrowed as stared up at Sarge, pointing to the space beside Flowers. "She's right there, mister! See, Sheila's here!" He explained. "She's my bestest friend!"

Sarge simply nodded, flashing flowers a few questioning looks. "Um... alright then, soldier. Lets saddle up and get outta here." With that said, the three left to head home.

...

Simmons was pacing in the room he and Grif shared, mind buzzing about the new kid moving in. What if Sarge would come to favor this Michael guy? What if started calling Sarge dad like Simmons did? What if-... what if Sarge decided he liked Michael more and didn't need Simmons anymore? The red head stopped, eyes wide with worry as the realization hit him like a bullet to a deer in hunting season. He turned to Grif, who was taking yet another nap on the bottom bunk that he had. It troubled Simmons that Grif was so dang lazy, but hey, as long as he understood that Sarge and Simmons had an 'unbreakable connection', then he was fine with whatever Grif did. As long as he didn't try to take over Simmons place as Sarge's favorite... at least, Simmons hoped he was Sarge's favorite kid.

"Grif!" Simmons yelled, shaking the other red head awake. "Wake up! Its an emergency!"

Grif yelped as he awoke, rolling onto the floor and yelping even louder as he fell and slipped on one of his marbles. "Ack! What do you want, Simmons?' He asked, rubbing his head angrily.

Simmons was hyperventilating by now. "Its awful! Terrible! Catastrophic! Insane! Cr-" He was cut off as Grif slapped him across the face. "Thank you." He muttered, sighing as he regained himself. "Now then, something really bad is happening today!"

"You mean that Michael kid moving in?" Grif asked, trying to at least figure out what was happening.

Simmons shook his head. "No! Well, yes, he's coming today, but that's the problem! If he moves in, then Sarge will like him best, then he'll send us back or something!"

"Good." Grif muttered, crawling back into bed. "Can't wait to go, better tell sis to pack her stuff."

Simmons was shocked. "You're giving up? But... don't you wanna stay here?"

"Nope." Grif replied simply. "Sarge sucks, I don't wanna stay here. Besides... I miss Hawaii." He admitted, looking a bit sad as he sat up on the bed.

"You know, you never did tell me what happened to your folks." Simmons said, hopping onto the bed to sit next to Grif, who looked to be at least a head shorter then himself. "Wanna talk about it?"

Grif sighed, looking away as he rubbed his arms self-consciously. "My dad got killed from a bomb incident awhile back... then mom overdosed on heroine. I was already taking care of everyone by then, but... I miss Hawaii. It was warm there all the time, not that it isn't in Texas, but music was always playing too. People would be out in the streets, dancing and laughing and just having a good time. You don't find that in Texas." He explained.

Simmons nodded, smirking at Grif. "Well, in America, you sure don't see alot of drunk Irishmen hobbling out of bars, do ya'h?" He asked.

"Depends on the city." Grif said simply.

Suddenly, before anything else could be said, the door opened from the first floor of the mansion. "We're home!" Flowers cheered, dashing into the house at light speed. "And Caboose wants to meet you all!"

Simmons sighed deeply. "Well, time to meet our new little brother... we're so dead."

"Dude, that kid is SO not replacing us, have you even HEARD of him?" Grif asked. "He's the craziest kid in the whole Foster System, I heard he shot the guy he was last placed with."

Simmons eyes widened before he adjusted his glasses, face horror stricken. "Oh no! He'll hurt Sarge, I gotta save him!" He yelled, running out of the room faster then Sister when her cartoons were on. "DAD! GET AWAY FROM HIM! HE'LL HURT YOU!"

Grif merely sighed, following sluggishly behind as he followed. "Same shit as always." He muttered under his breath.

...

By the time Grit made it to the bottom the stairs, everyone else was already there. He stared at Caboose, a wary look in his eyes. "So... is that him?" He asked as he approached the group surrounding Caboose.

"Yep." Sarge said simply. "Be nice to him." He added.

Grif rolled his eyes, then glared at Caboose... that kid was just TOO happy. "Hello!" Caboose greeted. "I'm Caboose!"

"Whats your zombie plan?" Was Grif's immediate question.

Caboose seemed to really think about it. "Um... make them my bestest friend ever in an army of super friends!" He cheered.

Grif shrugged, smirking at Caboose. "He's cool with me, how about you, Simmons? You like him or not?"

"As long as he doesn't try and be Sarge's favorite, I'll like him." Simmons said, crossing his arms. "Also... what kind of name is Caboose?"

Caboose smiled widely, hopping up and down, causing his light up shoes to glow with a faint, blue light. "Its my name!" He explained. "Sheila likes calling me Caboose best... she likes it when we play games together. I'll let you be her friend too if you're nice to her."

Simmons nodded, raising an eyebrow. "Who's Sheila?" He asked.

"She's right behind you." Caboose said, pointing behind the older boy.

Simmons turned around and nodded, a smile on his face. "She seems awesome, right Grif?"

Grif faced where Caboose had been pointed and nodded in agreement, smiling at the seemingly invisible girl. "I like her, she's funny!"

In the mean time, Sarge and Flowers were baffled. So, it wasn't just Caboose who was seeing Sheila, but all of the kids. Well, it could be that they were all faking it in order to make Caboose feel better about moving in with them all, but still... that didn't sound like something Grif would do for someone. As Sister and Caboose began talking on and on about some TV show, Sarge and Flowers snuck off to the kitchen, both equally as worried.

"Should we be worried?" Flowers asked Sarge fearfully. "I mean... I've heard of kids having imaginary friends... but never a whole group of children seeing the same one."

"You tell me, you're the damn hippy." Sarge said, staring at Caboose from the kitchen with worried eyes. "Is... he ever gonna be right in the head?" He asked.

Flowers sighed, looking away. "We can only hope so, sir."

Next Chapter: A small boy named Church and his older sister Carolina are forceably removed from their old home, being placed in Sarge's care. Will Church ever stop avoiding people? Will Carolina cool her hostile nature?


	4. Multiple Churches In Austin

[A/N: Quick thing, I'll change it in the last chapter as soon as this is done! Changing it to being just Church since I don't want him having any siblings right now. Also, I've decided that the Freelancers won't be featured until alot later, not until the Red and Blue teams are all grown up! Please comment!]

[This Chapter: When Sarge is assigned a boy named Leonard Church, he figures it'll be a piece of cake, but sadly, this kid is something else. Will Church's multiple personality disorder get in the way of his time with Flowers and Sarge?]

Time passed by quickly, the days seeming to melt into weeks with little issues. They eventually all fell into a sort of schedule. Caboose would spend at least four hours each day on week days at a special therapy class for children with special issues such as his own, Simmons and Grif would go to school as usual on the week days and spend their weekends doing whatever in the mansion, Sister was sent to preschool during week days, but spent most of her time at home or outdoors trying to match colors. This left Sarge, more or less, with alot of free time. He wasn't used to free time, not since he had been taken out the military after serving his time. Sure, dealing with his kids and especially Caboose on a regular basis was hard enough as it was, but really, he almost wished he had more of that time just so that he could be doing something other then sitting around. Before long, he had even gone as far as spending time with... Flowers... that hippy guy.

"Personally, Sir. I think you need to enjoy the free time you have now, soon, your life will be so hectic, you'll wish you were in a nursing home... no offense, sir. Trust me, you're still very young, you're only a few years older then me obviously! Um... I'm just going on about nothing, aren't I?" Flowers finally asked Sarge.

Sarge nodded, looking away from the odd man. They were in an old bar, not too far from town, but still, it was far enough that they were sure that no one would recognize them as the foster care system guys. It troubled Sarge that he had been more or less forced to bring Flowers here, but really, if he was going to be spending more time with him in assisting children, he'd need to get to know him better. It would bother most people if they didn't know their siblings very well, but really, Sarge had only known Flowers for two or three years before he left to join the military. So no, Sarge hardly knew Flowers, but in return, Flowers hardly knew Sarge. They were separate sides of a coin it felt like, yin and tang... two total assholes trying to raise a bunch of kids. Still, maybe that's what bonded them together? Who knew though?

"Hey, fight me like a man!" A man yelled as he slammed a drunk fool through a table right next to Sarge and Flowers.

Sarge looked like he was about to join the fray that was beginning, but Flowers grabbed his wrist, forcing him back down to sit with him. "Relax, sir. I get that you're into the whole fighting thing but... we're raising kids right now, we can't be involved in physical violence, in fact, lets never get involved!" He suggested.

The ex-soldier sighed, sitting back down with defeat. "Damn... so, we got any cases coming any time soon?" He asked, swigging his iced tea. They weren't drinking beers or anything, not tonight, just coke (Its funny how Flowers still asked for Pepsi) and iced tea.

"Actually," Flowers began, yanking out a file from his briefcase as a huge fight raged on behind them, the two men occasionally had to duck due to incoming patrons or chairs or even bottles. "says here that we got a strange case coming in soon, his name is Leonard L. Church. He's actually from Austin like us... oh no." He stopped as he read the paper.

"Out with it, man!" Sarge yelled over they screams of the other patrons.

Flowers sighed sadly. "Says here that Church suffers from severe Multiple Personality Disorder, meaning he almost seems to have more then one person controlling his mind. The first personality is called Delta by Church and seems oddly more intelligent then Church in certain things. The second is named Omega, or O'Malley as he's more commonly called, this personality is extremely aggressive and destructive, causing Church to attack several other kids. The third is called Theta, apparently he acts... normal almost, but less defensive and angry then he usually is." He explained.

"Anything else?" Sarge questioned.

Flowers nodded. "Apparently, Church's mother died in a war involving his father, who also worked for the military. However, his father lost all sanity and started attacking Church without warning, making him more then a bit afraid of adult males. His father committed suicide a few days ago, he had committed treason, so, to avoid capture, he killed himself in front of Church with a pistol."

Sarge nodded in acceptance. "When is he coming in, noon?"

"Nope, tomorrow morning at ten AM, at the adoption center we got Caboose from." Flowers explained, closing up his file quickly.

As sirens started to blare nearby, Sarge stood up along with Flowers. "Come on, we should scram while we still can."

"Okey dokey!" Flowers responded, following close behind Sarge.

"Never say that to me again." Sarge whispered in a dark tone before they disappeared out the back doors.

...

The next day, Sarge found himself carrying Simmons and Sister through the parking lot of the adoption center while Flowers carried Grif and Caboose from behind him. The weather was hot and misty, definitely not great weather for any traveling. However, as they all entered, a soft breeze from the air conditioning greeted them, as if saying 'thank you' in a very comfortable way. In the lobby was once again Mrs. Hum, who also worked with Church it looked like. The boy was small for his age by the looks of it, ducking behind Mrs. Hum as he glared and growled at Sarge and Flowers with piercing green eyes. He had jet black hair, the reached just below his ears, and wore a cobalt colored sweater with blue jeans on. He had on a blue backpack and held a stuffed teddy bear in his arms. The bear had on a soldier outfit with a green camouflage hat and everything, even a toy sniper rifle.

From the get go, Caboose was extremely excited to meet this new boy, claiming he and Church would be best friends. As soon as they entered, the two men set the kids down so that they could look around and meet Church. Seeing them, Church backed away from them, still glaring with all of his might at Flowers and Sarge. However, Mrs. Hum pushed Church forward a bit, making him face to face with Caboose. the two were, amazingly, the same height, but Flowers was more then certain that Church would probably get taller then Caboose or the other way around. Without warning, Caboose hugged Church, making the other boy squeak and try to escape Caboose's affection.

"Caboose!" Sarge said, getting the boys attention. "Let go of him."

Caboose obediently let go, allowing Church to growl at Caboose and grip his bear even tighter. "Jerk." He muttered under his breath. "Don't touch me, ever."

"Hey, I'm Simmons." Simmons said as he approached Church, hand outstretched to the younger boy. "You're Leonard, right?"

"Call me Church." Church ordered before calmly shaking Simmons hand, but the grip was rather weak.

"Hey!" Sister said, shoving Simmons out of the way as she faced Church, who was only a year younger then herself. "My name is Kaikaina, but everyone calls me Sister! Wow... you're alot shorter then dad said you'd be."

Sarge sighed, rubbing his temple. "Sister, be nice." He ordered as he tried to not blow a fuse over the fact that Grif was glaring at him again. "And Grif, go say hello to your new brother."

Grif rolled his eyes, crossing his arms. "Fine." He muttered before stepping forward, now sending Church a questioning glance. "So... your name is Leonard or Church or whatever? That's a really weird last name."

"Well, so is Grif, but you don't see me calling you an asshole." Church commented back.

"Church, apologize." Mrs. Hum ordered, sighing at the orphan.

Church rolled his emerald colored eyes, shaking his head before complying. "Fine... sorry or whatever."

Grif smirked at Sarge. "I like this kid." He decided.

"Of course you do." Sarge muttered as he and Flowers filled out the adoption papers. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"You say that every time we adopt a child." Flowers pointed out. "Personally, I'm excited, we're getting more children!"

Sarge rolled his eyes. "Whoopdy fucking doo." He muttered before cracking the faintest of smiles as Caboose hugged Church again, who pretended that he didn't like the attention even though it was clear that he did. "I guess its... rewarding."

Flowers smiled brightly. "Sir, if it was allowed, I would hug you in a giant bear hug and kiss your cheek happily!" He announced.

"That's gay." Sarge muttered, but still, he didn't say much more then that, considering he was blushing more then a tomato. "Church is it? How do you like yoir new siblings?" He asked as they finished the papers and started heading to the car in the parking lot.

Church glared at Sarge. "Why are you all red?" He asked in return, smirking. "And you're sweaty."

Sarge turned away, a bit more red now. "Clever little bastard." He whispered under his breath.

By the time they returned home, the whole family piled out of the car and into the backyard, well, the kids did at least. Sarge decided to go inside and rest for a bit while Flowers started cooking dinner inside. Outside, there was a large playskaype, a swing set with four swings on it, a tree with a tire swing and a trampoline. Sister and Grif were on the trampoline, trying to out-do each other in flips and jumps, Simmons was reading a book on computer re-programing on the swings, and finally, both Church and Caboose were sitting in the grass.

It was quite clear that to some degree, Church was uncomfortable with being around so many people, but he was mostly keeping to himself and his teddy bear, who he claimed the bear was named Fliss, who was also a girl bear (He had threatened to punch Grif when he said that teddy bears were for babies and little girls). Now, he seemed to be 'alright' with having Caboose near him, yet he was still very wary. If anything, besides Grif, Church was probably the most normal kid the Red & Blues had gotten so far (They called their family that).

"What was your daddy like?" Caboose asked Church as he played with a toy car in the grass.

Church froze up, shivered, then seemed to openly tense more. "Um... alright, I guess." He muttered, obviously showing signs of discomfort... too bad Caboose couldn't read people.

"Was he tall?' Caboose asked.

"I don't wanna talk about it anymore." Church announced, holding his bear close as he felt something like an alarmclock start to tick inside of him. "Lets talk about something else..."

Caboose, however, was not finished. "My daddy used to be tall... and smart, he told me to never get married."

"Stop." Church said very slowly. "I don't wanna talk about daddys anymore."

"But daddys are the best, Sarge is my daddy, and yours too!" Caboose explained happily.

Suddenly, Church stood. Although he was far shorter then Caboose when they would both be standing, he seemed to tower over him. A dark look entered his dazziling green eyes, making Caboose suddenly feel very scared. "Church?" He whispered in a scared voice. "Why are you-"

"My name... is O'Malley." Church whispered in that same, dark and monotinous tone.

Before anyone could react, Church jumped Caboose, jumping on top of the taller boy and simply punching him over and over again, screaming at him to obey Omega. Caboose was sobbing, trying to tell Church to stop, evem if Caboose was mentally retarded, he still understood that pain was not enjoyable. Simmons and Grif soon got involved, trying to yank the three years olds away from each other, but Church refused to budge, still swinging and kicking at Caboose. It only took moments for Sister to get Sarge and Flowers out there, pulling the two apart.

"What happened, soldier?" Sarge asked Simmons as he pulled Church away from Caboose.

"I dunno, dad. One minte, Church seemed to be having fun talking to Caboose, the next, he was calling himself O'Dalley or something and hitting him, telling him to obey Mega or something like that." Simmons explained.

Caboose was starting to calm down as he was held by Flowers, who was calming the tiny child down. "Could you tell us what happened?" Flowers asked Caboose.

Caboose nodded hesitantly. "Me and Sheila were talking to Church... and he got all mad n' stuff... and he hit me!"

Flowers nodded, looking over to Church, who looked limp almost in Sarge's hold. "Church, why did you hit Caboose?" He asked the three year old.

Church blinked, looking around with wide eyes. "Whats going on?" He asked. "What happened, me and that weird guy were... oh no." He whispered, tears starting to fall from his eyes. "I... O'Malley came back didn't he?"

"Who the heck is O'Malley?" Grif asked, looking at everyone with an eyebrow raised.

"Church has Multiple Personality Disorder, Grif." Flowers explained carefully. "Its when in a stressful and abusive situation, like the one Church was in before he was taken in by us, the people abused can start to create multiple personalities in their head. In Church's case, he has quite a few. O'Malley, also known as Omega, is agressive and tries to hurt people often. Delta is logical, and tries to assist Church, and the last one is Theta, who acts alot like Church did before he was being abused."

"So... he has other people in his head, that's so cool!" Sister exclaimerd, bouncing up and down. "Can I have people in my head too?"

Church shook his head, tears still falling. "You don't want voices in your head... they hurt people." He whispered, looking away.

Caboose suddenly hopped out of Flowers arms, walked up to Church and hugged him tightly. "Its okay." He whispered in a surprisingly soothing voice. "I have voices too... I'm special too, like you. We can be best friends." He promised.

Church nodded numbly against Caboose's T-shirt, clutching him like a life line. "... I still think you're stupid." He muttered.

[Next Chapter: When a small boy named Lavernius Tucker ends up on Sarge and Flowers doorstep, they struggle to find any information on him. Meanwhile, Caboose finds a puppy that he names reakles, and inlists his siblings to help keep the dog hidden from Sarge and Flowers.]

~Supercasey.


	5. Tucking An Orphan Into Bed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don't even regret making puns for every damn chapter, so I guess we should get used to this.
> 
> Sorry I haven't updated in forever, been busy making One-Shots and getting my best buddy into RvB.

It was a month later when things were changing further. Church had settled in quite nicely into the Sarge and Flowers household, having taken to spending time with Caboose, even though he spent most of that time calling Caboose stupid and noisy. Still, they spent alot of time together, and now, they were even going to the same classes for kids with special issues. It was helping too, everyone had gotten a taste of all of the different personalities in some way, but now that Church was learning breathing exercises and methods to keep them at bay, they had dealt with less incidents.

Simmons was doing well, spending time after school with Grif as usual and doing all of his homework when told. He still, of course, called Sarge dad, but no one seemed to mind. All of the kids had different things when it came to addressing Sarge and Flowers. Caboose called them both daddy or papa, Church called Flowers by dad or daddy but refused to call Sarge anything other then Sarge, Sister called Flowers mama or mommy sometimes while she called Sarge dad, and Grif only called Flowers mom sometimes. However... there was another child who would come soon, one with a thing for saying inappropriate jokes...

It was a warm afternoon when it happened, Sarge had just gotten home from the shooting range while Flowers was doing dishes in the kitchen. Suddenly, there was a loud knocking sound at the door. Sarge had gotten it, and had stared with wide eyes at the sight. It was a small boy, about Church and Caboose's age, with dark skin, black hair, and grey eyes. He wore an aged and slightly bloody teal T-shirt and brown shorts that looked ripped up and also had dried blood on them. Instead of coming in crying and sobbing like Sarge expected him to, the boy remained calm and quiet, looking to be fine other than the blood and cuts all over his frail form, and walked right inside.

Sarge simply stared as the kid walked inside, laid down on the couch, and fell asleep, looking rather peaceful. "Flowers!" Sarge boomed as he ran into the kitchen. "Call the cops, there's a kid covered in blood on our couch!"

The kids were called home from school from their classes (Grif had never been so excited) and were driven home by Sarge while Flowers called the police, who came in a hurry. The kid woke up after awhile, and was questioned immediately by the police officers around him. Instead of becoming scared or angry, the kid was calm, and answered the questions thrown at him in a relaxed manner.

"Whats your name?" A man asked.

"Lavernius Tucker." The boy said softly.

Another man stepped forward. "Where's your parents?"

"Dead."

"Do you have any living family?"

"Maybe."

"Do you know what happened to you?"

"I can't remember."

"Who's blood is covering your clothes?"

"Mine and moms."

"What happened to your mom?"

"Died."

"How did she die?"

"Can't remember."

The whole process of questioning Tucker seemed to be a truly monotonous thing, mostly replies were simple and honest, but any involving where he was from, where his parents were or what had happened were answered with 'I don't know' or 'I don't remember' every time. After awhile, the police simply gave up, all frustrated with how strange Tucker was acting. Most kids would be screaming, asking where their parents were and things like that, but not Tucker, he acted like any other kid, simply wanting to play or do something. After that, the commissioner approached Sarge, looking upset.

"Hello, Sarge." The commissioner greeted. "You're the one who found Lavernius, correct?"

"Yes, sir." Sarge answered. "Well, more like he found me."

"I see... well, until we can get this mess sorted out, we need someone to take Lavernius in. I understand that you run a foster care system in this mansion, if you could, please watch Lavernius. We're looking into it but... we have no leads other than the fact that the boy is covered in his mothers blood and his own. We're thinking she was murdered... but we have no way of knowing." The officer explained.

Sarge nodded. "I'll take 'm off your hands for ya'h." He agreed. "Anything else, fact wise?"

"He's three years old." The commissioner offered. "Other than that and his name? Nothing."

"That'll do." Sarge said, nodding.

The commissioner nodded in return before walking back over to Lavernius and crouching in front of him, meeting the small boys eyes. "Now listen here, Lavernius. If you have any problems or remember anything about what happened to you; I want you to call the police station and ask to talk to Commissioner Randy, I'll come and talk to you. Just remember, be good for these people and act appropriately, understand?"

"Yes, sir." Tucker answered, staring up at the man with wide eyes.

The man nodded and stood back up, facing Sarge once more. "Take good care of him, he's obviously blocking out whatever happened to him and needs to slowly overcome it all. I have a feeling that he's been living in the woods around these parts for some time now, he probably has been watching you all and came here after seeing that you take in children. Call me if anything changes or comes up." With that, the man left with the rest of his unit.

It was only a few seconds that passed before Sister poked her head in from the hallway. "Are they gone? Can we come out now?" She asked hesitantly.

Sarge nodded. At once, Sister and Grif slipped out of the hallway, being the only ones not playing outside at the moment. "Whats your name?" Sister asked Tucker, staring at him with curious eyes.

"I'm Lavernius Tucker, but I like being called Tucker." Tucker answered, smiling at both Grif and Sister. "What are your names?"

"I'm Kaikaina, but everyone calls me Sister!" Sister answered before pointing at Grif. "And this is my big brother, Dexter Grif, but we all call him Grif."

Tucker nodded, then smiled brightly. "Hey, wanna hear a great joke that I heard once?" He asked happily.

"Yeah!" Sister cheered. "Listen, Dexty! Tucker's gonna tell us a joke!"

"Goody..." Grif muttered, crossing his arms with a roll of his eyes. "Better not be like Sister's Barney jokes..."

Tucker shook his head. "Its not, trust me! Okay, What did the hurricane say to the coconut palm tree?" He inquired, smiling at his new siblings.

Flowers and Sarge seemed to think it over even, neither coming up with anything. "We give up." Grif finally said in defeat. "Whats the punchline?"

"Hold on to your nuts, this is no ordinary blow job! Bow chicka bow wow!" Tucker yelled, grinning as both Sarge and flowers paled a considerable amount. Sister sadly didn't understand the joke at all, while Grif knew it was at least dirty, he still hardly understood at the young age of seven.

"Um... Tucker, how about you and the others go play a board-game?" Flowers suggested, still pale from the sick and dirty joke.

Grif smiled as he followed Tucker and Sister out of the room. "I like this kid..." He muttered under his breath. "Hey, Tucker, got anymore of those jokes?"

"A dictionary full, my brother. A dictionary." Tucker explained simply.

...

Meanwhile, outside, Church was playing with his bear FILSS when out of nowhere, Simmons got off the swing and approached him, looking very worried by the looks of it. "Hey, Church, where's Caboose?" He asked in a worried tone. "Weren't you two playing together a few seconds ago, I can't find him anywhere."

Church shrugged. "Dunno." He said simply, hugging his bear tightly. "I think he yelled something before running off into the woods, I think he found some kind of shiny thing again or a squirrel."

"The woods are dangerous, come on, lets go find him before Caboose does something really stupid." Simmons said, taking Church's hand in his own, bigger one. "After what happened to that one Tucker kid, the police said its really dangerous in there, we need to find him before he gets really hurt. Or worse."

"Whats worse then getting hurt?" Church asked.

Simmons shrugged. "I dunno, what are you the most scared of?"

"Um... monsters?" Church offered. "The kind that live under beds and scare little kids and babies."

"Then maybe monsters might get him!" Simmons said in a worried tone once more. "Lets go!"

With that, both boys began bounding into the woods. There was a large forest behind the manor that was once home to a Native American tribe according to Flowers, which meant that the land was cursed. Of course, the place was huge, full of tall trees, huge pits and there was even said to be a huge underground cavern system somewhere. The place hadn't been used in years due to the terrifying rumors, causing the place to be hardly touched by mans need for production and construction of man-made buildings and pollution.

Everything was quiet, too quiet. Church was dead silent, looking ready to take off running at the first signs of danger. However, Simmons was a bit more bold, looking inside of dead, hollow logs and checking in bushes for Caboose. The kid wasn't that dumb, he'd come out in no time... right? Even with so much doubt, Church and Simmons continued to search for the orphaned idiot. Suddenly, there was extremely loud barking before a huge dog, looking to be a Great Dane, with brown and grey coloring. The dog barked at Church and Simmons, managing to hold Simmons down.

Simmons screamed in fear, but was cut off when instead of the beast of a dog attacking him, it licked him happily, tail wagging behind him. "Freckles!" Caboose yelled, hopping out from behind a bush to join beside the other boys. "There you are, we are in the middle of a game!" He paused, smile widening as he saw Church. "Church, you must meet my newest friend, his name is Freckles, for the freckles on his nose!"

Church glanced nervously at Freckles, who's muzzle had small, white specks that he could easily call freckles if he wanted to. The dog was monstrously huge, and looked to be at least a year or two old. Probably a stray. "We must keep him!" Caboose continued, after not getting a response from Church. "He will be our friend!"

"Dad'll never let us keep him though." Simmons said, barely escaping from under Freckles as he adjusted his big, round glasses. "We gotta be sneaky and hide him!"

"But he's SO big!" Church exclaimed, his voice changing in pitch to math that of Theta's voice, the childish personality. "I always wanted a puppy dog!"

Caboose nodded in agreement. "We will sneak him into our home, no one will know!" He declared.

"Sarge might find out." Simmons said from the sidelines, but he was ignored as a twig snapped behind him, making everyone turn around and stare with wide eyes as a huge man, looking taller than anything, stood with a bloody knife in his hand. "RUN!"

Simmons grabbed Church's and Caboose's hands, running full speed away from the man as he heard Freckles start attacking the guy behind them, accompanying the air with screams. "Come on, we gotta go!"

"But what about Freckles?" Caboose yelled, tears trailing down his face. "I do not want to lose him too!"

Simmons considered, for a moment, that Caboose had lost alot in his life. They all had, and losing Freckles, a dog that Caboose obviously loved, would crush the poor toddler. Sighing deeply, Simmons swung around, pushing Church and Caboose to keep running for the manor. "Keep going, I'll get Freckles!" He assured them.

...

It was Grif who first heard Church and Caboose crying as they ran towards the manor, both calling for help. Sarge was out there in an instant, with a loaded shotgun, while Flowers held a broom and a pistol, looking ready for war. "Whats wrong, boys? And where's Simmons?" Sarge asked, getting to eyes level with the two boys.

Caboose couldn't even talk, he was crying too hard, but Church was a bit more stable. "Caboose met a puppy in the woods, but it attacked a man with red stuff on him and lots of boo-boo's!" He declared, looking ready to go back after Simmons himself. "Wait here while I get my bee-bee gun, I can catch that bitch!"

"There's no need to swear!" Flowers called after Church, but it fell on deaf ears. He turned to Sarge, looking concerned. "We're not bringing the kids, are we?"

"Hell no." Sarge rumbled, looking ready to murder to protect his family that he had built up over the last few months. "We're gonna catch that bitch 'n make him pay for trying to blow a hold in this here family!" He charged into the bloods, guns a blazing. "Get along, Flowers, get along!"

"Wait for me!" Flowers screamed, shaking his broom in the air as he followed.

Grif, Sister and Tucker simply stood there, unknowing of what to do. "Lets guard the house, like real soldiers!" Tucker suggested, running into the house to find weapons and armor.

However, as Sister and Tucker ran inside, Grif looked concerned. He glanced suddenly at the parked car nearby, the keys only a feet away inside the house. He grinned, he'd save his best buddy, even if it meant learning how to drive along the way...

...

Tires hit the ground like lightning as the car took off on the forest floor, Grif was driving well, riding jumps and turning like a pro. "I should've tried for a license when I was six!" He yelled happily, smirking as he turned a corner and took off towards the deeper ends of the forest. "Don't worry, Simmons! The best driver in the history of history is here to rescue you!"

Sarge and Flowers were walking stiffly through the forest when they paused. "Did you here that?" Flowers asked, raising his broomstick as he heard a rather loud booming sound.

Sarge turned, feeling rather uneasy all of a sudden. "I have a very bad feeling 'bout this." He claimed, looking around worriedly.

Out of nowhere, Sarge's red pick-up truck came hurling out into the clearing, the engine loud and monstrous as the mobile vehicle drove right at Sarge and Flowers. Flowers tackled Sarge out of the way, only for the car to stop just short of running the two men over. They simply laid there, Flowers pressed up on top of Sarge, hands both on the older mans chest while Sarge was simply laying there, light greyish blue eyes meeting Flowers light green pair. After a few seconds, they got off of each other, watching with wide eyes as the window rolled down to reveal... Grif!?

"Dexter, what in the world are you even doing!?" Flowers yelled, he rarely yelled, but Jesus Christ, he was NOT having an easy day. "How are you driving a car?"

"Stole the keys and made Tucker in charge of the gas." Grif stated simply, opening the door to reveal Tucker at his feet, hands inches from slamming down on the gas as he smiled and waved at the men. He closed the door, smirking then at Flowers and Sarge. "Well, I'd offer to give you a ride, but I got a best buddy to save! Hit it, Tucker!" With that, he took off, deeper into the woods.

Sarge simply stood there, staring at the spot his car had once been at. "I have no Godly idea what I just saw." He said, still in shock by the looks of it.

"But did you hear what Grif said? He said that Simmons is his buddy, he's making so much progress!" Flowers proclaimed, hopping up and down as he smiled at Sarge. "Isn't this great?"

"REALLY!?" Sarge boomed, unable to really fathom what Flowers was talking about, seeing as reality had just hit him like a freight train. "You're concerned about Grif 'n Simmons being all buddy buddy, but not that a seven year old is driving a car!?"

Flowers shrugged. "Well, I admit, it's not exactly our best example as parents to ignore Grif's latest incident, but I believe that allowing Grif some personal freedoms might help him to adjust to living so far from home."

"Come on, you." Sarge muttered, grabbing Flowers roughly by the arm as he continued to walk towards the deeper end of the woods. "We may as well have given 'em all machine guns 'n giant polar bears!"

...

Simmons awoke with a start as he sat up, looking around as tears ran down his face. Everything hurt, it hurt so bad, but he couldn't see a goddamn thing. He tried to sit up, but he immediately fell into a coughing fit, and decided against trying to move too much. He tried to feel around, but was shocked silent as he realized he couldn't feel most of his left arm or right leg. With a gulp, he turned his head, letting out a cry of surprise when he saw that his left arm had been ripped off, blood pouring out from the wound, the same went for his right leg.

"Somebody help me, please!" Simmons yelled, trying to cry out for someone, anyone, to save him.

He recognized where he was, the forest, in a particularly dark and terrifying part too. Simmons groaned through his seemingly never ending tears, he was getting dizzy, and tired, but was scared that he wouldn't wake up if he fell asleep. He looking around more, seeing Freckles right next to him, licking his face with several whines escaping the dogs mouth. Freckles had stayed behind to protect Simmons, he had let whoever had hurt Simmons get away, so he could stay behind and protect the orphaned red head.

Simmons smiled lazily, patting Freckles muzzle softly with his right hand. "Good boy." He muttered, struggling to stay awake. He was so scared, scared to die, but he couldn't do anything but wait for death at this point. "Wait... do you hear... polka music?"

"Sister, get off the headboard, I need to fucking see!" Grif yelled, pushing the blonde off of the dashboard with a groan as he struggled to see in the darkness of the forest. "Fuck, he could be right here and we wouldn't even see him!"

"I wanna blow the horn!" Sister yelled, reaching forward over Grif and slamming her hands on the car horn, making Tucker cry out as the sound echoed through his sensitive ears.

Tucker groaned, both feet pushing down on the gas pedal while his small hands rubbed his aching head. "Ow, fucking... dammit, Sister! Not so loud, you're giving me a headache!"

"No I'm not!" Sister argued back, trying to blow the horn again, but Grif kept her at bay.

"Yes you are!" Tucker yelled over the loud engine, glaring at Sister from where he was curled up in the spot where the drivers feet would go... if they were tall enough at least.

Grif growled at the two kids. "Shut up, I'm driving! I need to concentrate!"

"Brake!" Sister suddenly yelled, jumping down to join Tucker in slamming on the brakes.

Grif was confused, but jolted forward as the car came to a stop. He groaned as he opened the door and hopped out, looking around for whatever Sister had just seen. "Where is he?"

"BARK BARK!" Grif turned around, hazel eyes meeting dark brown ones as he stared at Freckles, the dog he had heard about from Caboose a bit ago. The dog was standing carefully in front of a bloody mess, that Grif now recognized as Simmons.

"Richard!" Grif screamed, running past Freckles to crotch beside Simmons, grabbing the boys remaining arm tightly, as if he was about to lose him at any second. "Oh my God, you're covered in so much blood!"

Simmons groaned, blinking blearily up at Grif, who had tears running down his face. "Hey... you're crying..." He muttered, hand outstretching from Grif's hands to be placed on the Hawaiian's cheek delicately. "You never cry..."

"Only when I've got to." Grif said, tears starting to fall into Simmons T-shirt that was already stained with blood, the color tinged to become a maroon shade on the boys once brown shirt. "Please don't die... everyone else sucks... except Sister, she's an exception, but she's still not you!"

Suddenly, alarms blared heavily through the air, meeting both Grif and Simmons ears as Sarge and Flowers burst into the forest. Flowers fell to his knees, scooping up Grif and Sister in a tight hug while Sarge gently picked Simmons up, easily lifting the light weight boy. "Oh my gosh, I thought you were dead!" Flowers exclaimed, hugging Grif and Sister even tighter.

"Simmons is all red!" Sister said, pointing at Simmons with a worried look on her face as tears fell from her eyes. "Is he gonna be okay?"

"I hope so..." Flowers muttered, staring at Simmons with a worried expression on his face. He looked like he wanted to cry so badly, but he held back, staying strong in front of the kids. "If anyone asks... Sarge and I were the ones in the car driving, we'll leave your little adventure to be a secret, okay?"

Sister and Grif nodded, unconsciously gripping each others hands tightly as the police cars finally pulled up, with two ambulances accompanying it. Everything would be okay, it had to be, everyone in that bloody forest besides the cops were orphans. No one wanted to lose anyone else... it just wasn't okay to lose anybody else. Not after they had created such a nice little family together.

...

"He'll live." The doctor said as he re-entered the hospital waiting room, immediately being swarmed by Sarge, Flowers, Caboose, Church, Sister, Tucker, and especially Grif. "He'll need to be fixed up alot, physical therapy will also be needed for a full recovery. Mental wise, we're not entirely sure, we'll have to wait and see what will come next for him."

"So, any news on who hurt 'em?" Sarge asked, currently holding Church and Tucker. "They even catch 'em?"

Commissioner Randy entered, waving at Tucker as he approached Sarge, looking none too pleased by the days events. "Hello, Sarge. Thought I could have a word with you?"

"Course." Sarge replied, setting the kids down before following the commissioner out of the room, looking worried as all Hell. "Whats the news?"

The commissioner sighed, tossing out his cigarette with a heavy sigh. "We found out who killed Lavernius's mother... it was his father, but he's dead now. We didn't have a choice, he had a gun and, well, you probably know the rest."

Sarge nodded in understanding, casualties were understandable after all. "Whats to be of Tucker then?"

"No idea." The commissioner admitted, looking sadly at Tucker from afar. "Can't find any living family members who aren't in prison... but Lavernius is different, he's a good kid, Sarge. We need someone to look after him, if he gets caught head first in the system... dammit all, he'll end up like his old man."

"I get it. Well, I'll take him in." Sarge said, smiling softly at the commissioner. "Besides, seems my kids have taken a liking to 'em."

The commissioner nodded in agreement, chuckling as he watched from the corner of his eyes as Lavernius and Leonard argued over something dumb while Michael automatically sided with Leonard, glaring at Lavernius. "If you say so... funny how you've actually enjoyed your job now, and here I thought you didn't wanna raise kids."

"You get attached." Sarge stated simply, hands in his pockets as he watched the kids- no, HIS kids, laugh happily as they talked to Simmons, who was sitting in a wheelchair chattering on about how the hospital sucked, but at least he got out of school free, turning into an argument of Grif begging Simmons to run over his legs and Simmons refusing to do so. "Even if they can be completely and utterly annoying some days, on others... dammit it all, they can be the best people I've ever met."

To be continued...

[Next Chapter: As two new kids, Donut and Doc, move into the manor, Grif struggles to not blame himself for Simmons latest surgery. In the meantime, Simmons finally comes home, but with a robot arm and a robot leg to show for his troubles, much to Sarge's delight. Because, ya'h know, he kinda secretly loves robot stuff, much to Flowers surprise.]

~Supercasey.


End file.
